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Friday, March 30, 2012

Excited for the return of HBO's A Game of Thrones

I think that I would be remiss in not admitting my outright excitement for the return of this Sunday's "Game of Thrones" on HBO. I know that I have, from time-to-time taken different looks at Mr. Martin's books. I was not impressed with A Dance With Dragons as an example...but that comes from me being frustrated that I feel Mr. Martin has turned into a capitalist who seeks to milk every penny from his franchise as opposed to giving us the story that so strongly permeates the first three books of his series.

Season two is all about the book A Clash of Kings. And this my friends, is a masterpiece. For those of you who haven't read the books and are concerned that there is no one to step in and fill the void left behind by the death of Ned Stark, I want to assure you that the tales of Westeros do not stop with him. I'm looking forward to seeing Tyrion, Cersei, Jaime, and Daenerys develop. I'm interested in new characters...Milisandre of Asshai, Stannis Baratheon, and Daenerys' dragons (which will become characters unto themselves).

If I had to say one thing about George's fantasy, it's that it got me interested in reading the genre again. I had wandered into general fiction (which still makes up the bulk of my reading list). I'd read most of Vonnegut's books, I'd explored non-fiction by reading Hawking, read some young adult (and didn't find it necessarily to my liking), but I hadn't read fantasy (the stuff that I read as a kid) in years. George changed that with his books. And he seems to be the one that I kind of stick with because, as I've explored other fantasies, they all strike me as knockoffs of what George managed to do, and I wonder how long that trend is going to continue.

I'm really not a fan of knockoffs. Just to illustrate what I mean by this term, I've heard that "Divergent" is a knockoff of "The Hunger Games"--I've read the Hunger Games...but not Divergent. Again, it's only what I've heard from reading what people write online. I honestly don't care because I'm not going to read Divergent anyway. But it may serve to illustrate my point.

George's story is first and foremost about power. It's an epic that really kind of reinvented fantasy by introducing a psychological component. Instead of a black and white struggle of good vs. evil, it is a complex examination of real world characters who pursue their own interests. I'm excited to dive back into this backstabbing, power-grubbing, drama-filled murderous tale of the most flawed human beings and their struggle to outdo one another by screwing each other over in the most hate-filled ways. Really...it's like looking at our own government.

I shall be participating in the A-to-Z challenge starting this Sunday. Have a great Friday and Saturday.

Would have started this series by now, but we got Harry Potter 7 Part 2 in the mail and watched that instead (can you believe we haven't watched that until now?). What can I say? Always been slow on the uptake. :)

Hmm, i would not say divergent is a knock off of HG. I mean, unless you're just going with the dystopian genre, then yes. But plotwise, eh. Divergent has more in common with The Giver, imop. Either way, Divergent was one of my top 5 books last.BUT! On to fantasy! Since you're getting back into it, have you read Lies of Locke Lamora? READ IT.... So good. Definitely the top contender for best book of the year so far for me.Finally, i'm so frickin excited for season 2! But i don't get to watch it until monday, because my bro plays D&D on sunday nights, and we're not allowed to watch it without him. His stupid nerdery delays my nerdery!

I am in the same boat as you are, Mike. I had stayed away from fantasy for a long time, mostly because the books I was finding never strayed far enough from the Tolkien mold for my taste. Not that I dislike Tolkien high fantasy. But after years of reading it, I wanted to find something different.

It took a friend pushing Game of Thrones into my hand for me to start reading the Song of Ice and Fire. And I'm glad I did. These books straddle so many genres in trope and form, in pace and erudition, that I never find Martin's storylines predictable. And that's a huge feat, considering the amount of pages he has gone through.

Thanks for the reminder. I loved the first series and was devastated when Ned Stark died. What? No more Sean Bean?? So I was hugely relieved to read your post and know that more excellence is coming. Yay!

And don't even get me started on Divergent. It was my fav. book of 2011. I'm counting the days till Insurgent comes out.(May 1st, btw) The premise is not similar to HG so I don't get that... Yeah, they're both dystopian and written in 1st person present tense, but that's about it.

I read Divergent and enjoyed it, and I'm not one to finish many books. (Too many to sample!) The only comparison to HG is it's a dystopian future and there's tons of kid violence.

It's actually got a terrific theme, and it couldn't be more timely: should the people who enjoy having power be the ones to have it and rule over us?

I don't think it'll be the powerhouse HG is, simply because the characters didn't come alive as wonderfully as HG or something like Harry Potter. In a way, they weren't cliched enough. Some "stock" characters with slight changes are easier for a massive audience to digest.

it will be a big hit. I'm only not sure why didn't they play it at the same time around the world, that would've created a global event :( I'm posting some sweet posters on GOT this Monday :) and tomorrow HOLLYWOOD SPY is going Asian :)

I can't wait for this. I real really hope that I can get access to Sky Atlantic tomorrow, and that they're showing it in the UK at the same time. If not ... I suppose another run at Season 1 won't hurt.

It's tonight!!! I can't wait!!!! We might watch the first series again, too. It is my favorite show of last season. I hope this season is as good. Yep, I start the A-to-Z challenge today, and I'm also visiting everyone I didn't get to on Friday. Kiddo commitments got in the way. ;)

I am so excited for tonight!! And reading your post made me even more psyched. I haven't read the books yet and am totally spoiler-free on the show, so I can't wait to watch the season play out. Only an hour to go and I can't wait, I so love this show.